Solution-focused therapy is a brief therapeutic modality that focuses on what clients want to achieve through therapy rather than on the problem(s) that made them to seek help.

Below you will find 8 solution-focused therapy resources that might be useful for those who work using this approach.

1.  Openings in Solution Focused Therapy (Microsoft Word file)
Openings are of extreme importance:  They should be respectful and the start of the sessions focus; they set the scene to be future focused, solution oriented, and responsive to the client’s needs; such as…..

2.  Useful Questions to ask Clients (Microsoft Word file)
Suggestions on how to shift from problem-focused talk to solution-focused discussion.

3.  SFBT Lead-in Questions (PDF file)
Sometimes the most difficult aspects of trying out a new concept is getting started. This resource lists a few of the lead-ins used in SF questioning.

4.  The initial session in Solution-Focused Therapy (Microsoft Word file)
Suggestions about the types of questions and information that you may wish to gather in an initial session with a client.

5.  Notes from the first session (Microsoft Word file)
A template structure for note-keeping for the initial solution-focused therapy session.

6.  Learner’s Workbook for Interviewing for Solutions (PDF file)
This is a 195 page PDF workbook designed to accompany the third edition of Interviewing for Solutions by Peter de Jong & Insoo Kim Berg. It contains several exercises designed to help you put the skills described in the textbook into practice.

7.  Arlene Brett Gordon’s SF Forms for Work with Children & Families (PDF file)
A useful note-keeping resource for therapists working with children and families using the solution-focused model.

8.  Solution-focused bereavement interventions (PDF file)
A guide to working with loss, bereavement and prolonged grief using the SFBT model.